Questions and responses All Sessions January 17, 1994, to present

With regard to funds spent by Elections Canada: (a) how much has Elections Canada spent on legal counsel and legal advice since 2005; (b) how much of this spending was to address issues with regard to the Conservative Party of Canada; and (c) how many legal proceedings does Elections Canada have ongoing at this time?

With regard to the Public Appointments Commission: (a) what has been its annual budget for each year from 2006-2007 onwards; (b) how much of this money has actually been spent; (c) what has happened to the remaining funds; (d) how many employees work directly for the Commission; (e) how many employees work on the file in the Privy Council Office; (f) what is the breakdown in expenses for each of the years since its creation, including, but not limited to, staff, office space, travel, contracts, hospitality, etc.; (g) how many Commissioners does the Commission currently have; (h) who are these Commissioners; (i) how much are the Commissioners paid; (j) what is the breakdown for the Commissioner’s office budgets, travel expenses (transportation, hotels, per diems) and hospitality expenses for each year since the Commission’s creation; (k) what is the mandate of the Commission; (l) who does the Commission report to; (m) when was the last review of the Commission; (n) what are the roles, responsibilities and titles for each of the Commission’s employees; (o) what are the names of companies that the Commission has entered into contracts with since 2006; (p) what were these contracts for; (q) how much are these contracts for; (r) were any of these contracts tendered and, if not, were they sole-sourced; (s) how much has the Commission spent for telecommunications devices since 2006; (t) how much has the Commission spent for long distance calls since 2006; (u) what are the deliverables for the Commission; and (v) is there an evaluation process for the commission and, if so, what are the results of that process for each year since the Commission has been in operation?

With regard to the Employee Innovation Program: (a) how many submissions have been received since the launch of the program; (b) what recommendations were made; (c) in which departments were the submissions made; (d) what is the status of these submissions; (e) how many of these submissions have been acted on by the government and, in each case, how has it been acted on; (f) how much money has the government saved because of this program; (g) have any of the adopted initiatives put forward through the program cost the government more money than the costs that would have been incurred had the changes suggested by the initiative not been adopted and, if so, what were those initiatives and their costs; (h) how many different employees have made submissions; (i) how many employees currently work on this program and what are their titles, roles and responsibilities; (j) what is the cost of this program for each of the budget years for which it has been announced; (k) how much did the program cost to set up; (l) does the government plan to extend the program; (m) who will review the program; and (n) what is the evaluation process for the program?

With regard to programs and grants provided by Citizenship and Immigration Canada for the settlement of new immigrants: (a) what are the names of the organizations to which the government has provided funding in the years 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012; (b) what were the program guidelines in each of the years identified in (a); (c) how much funding did each organization receive in each of the years identified in (a); (d) where are the agencies that received funding located; (e) how much of the budgeted funds was not spent and, in the case of 2011-2012, what is the amount that has not been committed; (f) what was done with the unspent funds; (g) how many people did each of these agencies serve in each of the years identified in (a); and (h) what were the performance targets in each of the years identified in (a), identifying the agencies that met and failed to meet those targets?

With regard to the government's National Anti-Drug Strategy: (a) what is the total cost of this strategy, broken down by department and agency, for each of the fiscal years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010; (b) how much is spent on advertising related to the strategy, broken down by campaign and then by platform type (i.e., print, radio, television, online), for each of the fiscal years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010; (c) what is the cost of advertising, broken down first by campaign and then by ad development and cost to air or print for each of the fiscal years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010; (d) how much is spent on program administration for this strategy, broken down by department and agency, for each of the fiscal years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010; (e) how much did the government spend on incarcerating people for drug-related offences in the above years, broken down by offence and drug type; (f) how much does the government spend on enforcement for drug-related offences, broken down by department and agency, for each of the fiscal years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010; (g) how much does the government spend on the rehabilitation of people who suffer from drug addiction issues, broken down by drug type; (h) are there any plans for new programs to address drug use in Canada and, if so, what are they and how much is budgeted for them; (i) what are the government's performance indicators for its different drug programs; (j) what are the performance targets for the strategy for each of the fiscal years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010; (k) what are the performance results for the strategy for each of the fiscal years 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010; (l) what groups has the government consulted with to develop its strategy; (m) how often is the strategy reviewed; (n) what are the projections for increases in drug incarceration based on the government's proposed drug legislation, broken down by offence and drug type; (o) how much has been allocated or planned for to address these increases; (p) what research has the government used in developing its anti-drug strategy; (q) into what research contracts on drug policy has the government entered since 2006; (r) who received those research contracts, what was their value and were they sole-sourced or tendered; and (s) which organizations have received grants or funding through the anti-drug strategy, how much have they received and for what purpose, since 2006, broken down by fiscal year?

With regard to the Prime Minister's Office, Ministers' offices, and Ministers of State's offices: (a) how many exempt staff are based outside of the Ottawa area; (b) in what cities do these staff work; (c) what are the roles and responsibilities of these staff; (d) where are their offices located; (e) in cases where the government does not own the buildings where these offices are located, how much does the government pay in rent for these offices; (f) how much does the government pay in support of these offices, breaking down the costs into categories; (g) do any departmental staff work in the same locations; and (h) in cases where more than one office shares a location, which department pays for the cost of operating the office?

With regard to the government's ownership positions in independent companies that are not considered Crown Corporations: (a) in which publicly traded companies did the government own stock as of December 14, 2010; (b) what was the level of ownership, both in number of stocks and the percentage of ownership; (c) when were these ownership positions taken; (d) does the government appoint any directors of these companies and, if so, who are they; (e) when were these positions taken; (f) in which private companies does the government own stakes; (g) what percentages of these companies does the government own; (h) who are the other owners of these companies; (i) does the government appoint members to these companies' boards of directors and, if so, who are they; (j) when were these positions taken; and (k) when were these positions for both public and private companies last reviewed?

With regard to the government's use of Advance Contract Award Notices (ACANs): (a) how many times has the government used this type of tendering since 2006; (b) what were the proposed procurements relating to these tenders; (c) which of these ACANs received a statement of capabilities meeting the requirements for another company; (d) how many statements of capabilities from other companies where received; (e) which of these ACANs were then moved to the full tendering process; (f) which of these were awarded to the pre-identified contractor; (g) on what dates were the ACANs posted; (h) what were the related response deadlines; (i) for those that received a statement of capabiIities, when were the companies notified if they met the requirements; and (j) when were the contracts awarded?

With regard to the government’s Economic Action Plan: (a) how many projects have been funded in partnership with the provinces and municipalities; (b) for how many of these projects has the government been informed that the March 31, 2010 deadline for substantial completion will no longer be met, listing for each the title of the project; and (c) for how many of these projects has the government been informed that there is a risk of no longer meeting the deadline for substantial completion, listing for each the title of the project?

With regard to the government’s decision to change the level of Employment Insurance premiums: (a) how many items of correspondence has the government received on this issue; (b) what impact, both in percentages and in numbers, does the government project this decision will have on employment; (c) what does the government’s comparative analysis of the impact of the decision indicate; and (d) does the government anticipate a different impact on small businesses as opposed to medium and large businesses?

With regard to the Prime Minister’s office, Minister’s offices, Minister of State’s offices, and budgets for exempt staff of Parliamentary Secretaries from January 1, 2008 to October 5, 2010: (a) how much was spent on contracts for (i) temporary employment, (ii) consultants, (iii) advice; (b) what are the names of the individuals and companies that correspond to these amounts; and (c) for each person and company in (b), what were their billing periods and what type of work did they provide?

With regard to contracts by departments and agencies for writing and editing services: (a) how much has each department and agency spent for both services since 2006; (b) what were the corresponding events, releases, speeches, or materials for each contract; (c) who were the contracts paid to; and (d) were any of these tendered?

With regard to the Economic Action Plan: (a) how has the government informed Canadians about the Economic Action Plan; (b) how much has the government spent on announcements relating to the Economic Action Plan; (c) what is the breakdown of these expenses by event and by type of expense; (d) how much has been spent on (i) consultants, (ii) flights, (iii) media and logistic companies, (iv) props and backdrops; (e) what are the names of companies contracted and the amount of funds spent for media consultants, logistics, props, and advertising; (f) what is the breakdown of this funding by city; (g) how much has the government spent producing advertisements; (h) when have these advertisements aired; and (i) what are the events and what are the total costs for each?

With regard to travellers from Mexico: (a) how many travellers from Mexico have visited Canada since 2007, broken down by quarter; (b) what is the economic impact of these visits to Canada, broken down by quarter; (c) what provinces are the destinations of these travellers; (d) what was the projected growth in travel prior to the implementation of visa requirements; (e) what is the projected difference in economic input with the implementation of the visa requirements over the next five years, including a breakdown by sector; and (f) what is the projected effect on tax revenue over the next five years?

With regard to the Interdepartmental Working Group on Trafficking in Persons: (a) when was the last time this group met; (b) how many times has it met since 2005 and when were these meetings; (c) what were the agendas for these meetings; (d) how much has been budgeted for this group since 2005; and (e) what was the composition of this group at its founding and what is its current composition?

With regard to the Marquee Tourism Events Program, for each of the fiscal years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011: (a) what were the program criteria; (b) what are the names of the organizations that applied for funding; (c) what were the amounts applied for by each organization; (d) what were the decisions given for each application and the justification provided for each decision; (e) how much of the budgeted funds have not been allocated to projects; (f) how were the successful applications chosen; (g) what are the projected impacts on tourism in terms of the number of domestic and foreign visitors for the successful applications; (h) what are the projected economic benefits for the approved projects; and (i) what were the projected benefits for the applications that were not approved?

With regard to fees paid by the government: (a) how much does the government pay in merchant fees for accepting credit cards for government services, broken down by fee type and program area; (b) how much does the government pay in transaction fees for processing debit cards for government services, broken down by fee type and program area; (c) what are the details of agreements signed between the government and credit and debit card processing companies, including all terms, contracts and commitments; (d) what is the total cost of agreements signed between the government and credit and debit card processing companies; and (e) what does the government pay to banks in service fees, broken down by fee type and program area?

With regard to infrastructure spending in the Region of Peel by the government: (a) what is the total amount spent in each municipality for each fiscal year since 2005-2006; (b) how much has been spent in each federal electoral district in the Region of Peel for each fiscal year since 2005-2006; (c) how much has been committed under the Infrastructure Stimulus Program for each of the cities in the Region of Peel; and (d) how much has already been spent in the Infrastructure Stimulus Program for each of the cities in the Region of Peel?

With regard to Pearson International Airport: (a) what are the government’s plans, including timelines to address congestion in the next 25 years; (b) how much government and Greater Toronto Airports Authority funding is budgeted for this expansion; (c) how much has the Department of Transport collected in rent from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority for each year since fiscal year 2005-2006; and (d) how much have the government and its agencies spent on land acquisitions since fiscal year 2005-2006, where is this land located and what are the budget and locations proposed for future acquisitions?

With regard to the grant and business assistance programs that report to the Minister of Industry: (a) what are the names and amounts granted or released to companies for each fiscal year since 2005-2006; (b) what are the reporting requirements for those programs; and (c) what was the amount budgeted and what was the amount spent for each program for each fiscal year since 2005-2006?